Physical security systems traditionally employ humans to, for example, provide access control to a building, monitor public safety in a stadium, or prevent theft in a retail store. Modern electronic physical security systems employ a variety of electronic sensors in or around the secured space, allowing for recording, remote live monitoring, or even automatic notification should certain conditions occur. Many types of electronic sensors are used for security systems, from simple contact switches that indicate a window or door has been opened in a residential home, to panoramic video cameras observing a large portion of a sports stadium.
Electronic sensors can be combined with computers to, for example, control the sensor, allow live human observation of sensor output, record the sensor output for later use, or analyze and detect security conditions based on sensor output. While sensors and computers may be directly connected or part of the same physical device, they may also be connected via a computer network. Security requirements may dictate that many sensors be used, all of which can be connected via a computer network. Multiple computers or computing nodes can be required due to the resource limitations of a single computer for computer-based recording and/or analysis of sensor output of multiple sensors or just a single high data rate sensor, such as a high-definition camera. Such resource limitations that necessitate multiple compute nodes may include limits in storage capacity or bandwidth, network bandwidth, and processor processing speed. Multiple computing nodes and multiple cameras can also provide redundancy for improved reliability of a security system.
Distributed security systems with multiple computing nodes often have (or are assumed to have) all computing nodes with homogeneous hardware capabilities. This simplifies configuration and maintenance of the security system.